Sounding board for pianos



April 8, 1941. H. w. BELL 2.237.695

SOUNDING BOARD FOR PIANOS Filed Dec. 28, 1937 INVENTOR. Homer W fle// BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOUNDIN G BOARD FOR PIANOS Homer W. Bell, Lovelock, Nev. Application December 28, 1937, Serial No. 182,037

1 Claim.

This invention relates to pianos and in particular to their sounding boards.

The effectiveness of the sounding board of a piano as well as that of other musical instruments depends upon the presence of a crown in the soundin board. In the past this result has been accomplished by the use of ribs rigidly secured to the sounding board or by the use of a screw pressing against the sounding board. However, since sounding boards of pianos are always made of wood, and since in many localities they are subjected to varying temperature conditions, it has been found that they are very apt to crack on contracting against the means used to maintain a crown in them.

In general, the object of my invention is the provision of resilient means for maintaining a crown in the sounding board of a piano.

Another object of my invention is the provision of resilient and resonant means for maintaining a crown in the sounding board of a piano.

A further object of my invention is the provision in a piano of a primary and a secondary sounding board, each of which is provided with a crown by the use of some resilient and resonant means.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which With the foregoing will be set forth at length in the following description where that form of the invention which has been selected for illustration in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of the present specification is outlined in full. In said drawing, one form of the invention is shown, but it is to be understood that it is not limited to such form, since the invention as set forth in the claim may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a miniature type of piano provided with primary and secondary sounding boards in which my invention is incorporated.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the back of the primary sounding board.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1, showing the inner face of the secondary sounding board.

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing the details of construction used for resiliently mounting a crown in the primary and secondary sounding boards.

As shown in Figures 1 through 4, my invention has been incorporated in a miniature type of piano l, to the back of which is secured a conven- 1 tional primary sounding board 2 by any suitable means such as screws. Secured to the sounding boardZare a plurality of diagonally disposed parallel ribs 3, as shown in Figure 2. The three central ribs 3 are notched out in order to accommoi ill date a resilient and resonant block 4. Secured to the primary sounding board 2 is a secondary sounding board 5, provided with marginal strips 6 by means of which the two sounding boards are maintained in spaced relation. The secondary sounding board 5 is provided with diagonal ribs I so spaced as to lie intermediate the ribs 3 of the primary sounding board 2. Two of the central ribs 1 are notched out in order to accommodate a resilient and resonant member 3.

The resilient and resonant member 4 comprises a pair of wooden strips 9 and l I held in spaced and parallel relation by intervening strips I 2. In like manner, the resilient and resonant member 8 comprises a pair of Wooden strips l3 and I4 held in spaced parallel relation by means of intermediate strips 15, Keyed within a recess l6 formed in the wooden strip I3 is a nut l1, and threaded in this nut is a screw I8, the outer end of which is provided with a Wrench face extending through an opening l9 formed in the secondary sounding board 5. The inner end of the screw l8 engages the wooden strip H and therefore may be made to resiliently maintain a crown in the primary and secondary sounding boards. Due to this construction, it will be seen that any stresses or strains placed upon either of the sounding boards due to their contraction will in part be absorbed by the resilient Wooden strips I l and I3, and that thereby cracking of either sounding board will be obviated.

While the resiliency of the members 4 and 8 required to absorb some of the tension to which the primary and secondary sounding boards are subjected may be obtained without the use of a composite member such as 4 and 8, a composite member is preferable for the reason that by having the members 9 and I l l3 and I4 spaced, these members have the additional quality of being resonant, thereby enhancing the value of my device.

As is the usual practice, both the primary and secondary sounding boards may be provided with openings 2| for the release of air from the compartment formed by the two sounding boards and the marginal strips 6 of the secondary sounding board.

I claim:

A piano comprising: a primary sounding board; spacing members secured around the marginal edges of said primary board; a supplementary sounding board overlying said primary board and secured about its marginal edges to said spacing members; a resilient resonant block secured to said primary board in spaced relation therewith; a resilient resonant block secured to said supplementary board in spaced relation therewith; and means associated with said blocks for holding them under tension.

HOMER W. BELL. 

